Ned Skeldon Stadium

Once a racetrack for the Lucas County fairgrounds, Ned Skeldon Stadium originally opened as Lucas County Stadium to bring the Mud Hens baseball team back to life.

For 37 seasons (1965 – 2001), Ned Skeldon Stadium was home of the Toledo Mud Hens minor league baseball team, based in Maumee, Ohio. The Mud Hens are part of the International League and are affiliated with the Detroit Tigers.

The stadium capacity is listed at just over 10,000 fans, though I don’t recall a game I attended having even half that for attendance. Regardless, it was replaced in 2002 with Fifth Third Field in downtown Toledo.

I recently took a trip to the old stadium to see if it was still standing, and was pleasantly surprised that not only is it still around, it’s being used as a rec center. While I was unable to get inside the stadium to take some closer pics, I did walk away with a few shots of what remains of the stadium itself.

Compare the pic above as it stands today to the one below when the stadium was still in use for the Mud Hens.

Photo courtesy Baseball Parks of the Minor Leagues

I’m thankful that the stadium wasn’t demolished before I could get some pics. Simply standing outside of the field brought back memories of watching games here.

I grew up watching minor league baseball, starting with the Kinston Indians, so there will always be a part of me that enjoys small stadiums such as this.